FAQs – as at 25th May 2017

GETTING STARTED

You can store details of all your vehicles in one convenient location, including licence, registration and insurance information – and access this as and when you need.

The app also lets you ‘rate’ a parking location – based on lighting, safety or any damage done while away from your vehicle –and share that rating with other users.

By ‘checking in’ when you park, the app can later help navigate you back to that exact spot to find your vehicle. No more getting lost in a carpark!

You’ll also receive tips on how to best protect your vehicle and any accessories or contents; have immediate access to essential phone numbers if your vehicle is damaged or goes missing;and allows you to broadcast your loss to the MyWheels community via social media.

When you first download the MyWheels app, you will be walked through a number of helpful tutorial screen explaining the different functions.

Home Screen – displays a map with your current location with two buttons overlayed, ‘I’m parking here’ and ‘Find my vehicle’. Immediately below the map are four major buttons – Report Sighting, File New Report, About Us and Updates.

Main Menu – gives you access to Helpful Numbers (police assistance, tow truck etc); allows you to provide Feedback, Share or Rate the app; and Log Out. It is located at the top left of the screen and denoted by three little horizontal bars and the MyWheels icon.

Profile & Vehicle Details – are accessed by tapping the round ‘person’ icon (or photo if you’ve uploaded one) in the top right hand corner of the Home Screen.

Back – to return to a previous screen, tap the MyWheels icon at the top left of a screen if it has an arrow next to it or the Back button on your phone.

PROFILES

Users complete their Profile (name, date of birth, mobile number, gender, plus a unique PIN and security question) to activate the app. Once activated, it is easy to enter your licence, address, comprehensive details for each vehicle you own (including engine, VIN or chassis numbers), pictures, insurance and registration details – all the information you will need if your pride and joy is stolen, damaged or involved in a crash – in one handy location.

If your car, motorbike, bicycle, caravan or boat has non-standard accessories or distinguishing features, it’s a really good idea to make a note of them and take a photo of them – and can include things like:

No. You can use the MyWheels FREE app to record details of your motorcycle, bike, scooter, car, truck, caravan, trailer – even your forklift, mobility scooter or boat! Basically, any vehicle that has a registration number, serial number or some other type of distinguishing identification.

The app also lets you store pictures, including identifying features or unique accessories that might assist police or other MyWheels users if your pride and joy is stolen.

Security of your information is important to us, so MyWheels has been designed to protect your data during collection, storage and use.

We recommend that you always log out of the app when you’re finished using it. This will ensure that your personal information and vehicle details can only ever be accessed by entering your log-in details and unique PIN.

Any information communicated over the internet is encrypted and securely transferred using Rapid SSL Security. This includes the data collected by MyWheels that is stored on your device and sent to our server.

Any sharing of data across social media platforms – Facebook and Twitter – only occurs if you choose to do so.

We may also advise you of offers, products or services from third parties exclusive to MyWheels usersbut we do not share your personal data with any third party.

MyWheels FREE – a key focus of the MyWheels app is to help owners understand and take proactive steps to make it harder for thieves to strike. Locking your car or bike, parking in a well-lit or busy location, and removing items of value will all go a long way toward reducing the chances of your ride disappearing.

MyWheels FREE – we’ve all parked somewhere new and had difficulty remembering the exact street or location. The MyWheels app allows you to ‘check-in’ and capture the exact spot where you’re parking and then navigate back to that spot later.

REPORTING

MyWheels is invaluable if the worst should happen and your vehicle is stolen.

Report the theft to Police on 131 444 – this number has been automatically saved in the MyWheels app.

Also report the theft to your insurer, via the pre-stored phone number in the MyWheels app, confident in the knowledge that you have all the information you’ll need at your fingertips – insurance policy number, VIN and chassis numbers, and so much more!

Yes. Phone numbers for the police and your insurance company will display to help you immediately report your vehicle stolen or seriously vandalised – and you’ll have all the information you need at your fingertips as you speak with them!

TROUBLESHOOTING

The location/address depends on the location returned by your phone’s GPS. Sometimes the GPS can be ‘spotty’ because of a low battery, poor GPS connectivity, your phone doesn’t update its location very frequently and gives an approximate location or your phone’s GPS might even be switched off.

In your phone’s Settings, make sure that Location Services is activated. You might find that your phone is giving priority to the use of wireless networks even when GPS is active. If this is the case, you should turn ‘use wireless networks’ Off, but keep ‘GPS satellites’ On.

Sometimes, if a user has several apps open and their phone starts running out of memory, it can cause an error message. If you want, you could try deleting and re-installing the app – and, don’t worry, your information won’t be lost.

If a ‘Report’ button appears, we encourage you to click on it because this automatically sends us a technical report which will help us determine what’s causing the issue and whether it is something we can correct.

OTHER STUFF

Samaritan points are allocated based on how active a MyWheels user is. Points accrue for things like completing your Profile, adding a vehicle and its details, rating parking locations and reporting a sighting of a possible stolen vehicle.

Eventually, we hope to provide you with special offers that you can claim by redeeming your Samaritan points!

These FAQs were last updated 25 May 2017.

About

MyWheels was developed and launched by Crime Stoppers in late 2014, with the support of the Federal Attorney-General’s Department, to help reduce, prevent and recover stolen vehicles.